History & Giving Heart of Boxing Day!
photo via Wikipedia.com
Happy Boxing Day!
The day after Christmas is named Boxing Day. Mostly celebrated by our friends across the pond, here in the States, this day can be a bit of a mystery. Boxing Day began as a way to honor and bestow gifts upon those in need, and the "Christmas Box" or "Alma box" was believed to have first began during the Middle Ages in the UK, often times a collection of money by the church then opened the Day after Christmas. Perhaps brought by the Romans to England, the holiday is celebrated in England, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, Poland, France and beyond. The day is also an international bank holiday. In South Africa is was renamed "Goodwill Day" and the day also falls on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar as St. Stephen's Day and in Ireland the "Wren Day". In Holland, collection boxes were earthenware and shaped like pigs, and many think could be the derivative of the 'Piggy Bank'.
I say let's rejoice in this wonderfully philanthropic day, with roots squarely placed from a giving heart. Without some of the commercialism associated with Christmas, Boxing Day is an opportunity to rejoice in a quiet celebration of giving back to the community.
In England, Boxing Day traditional Hunt Scene
Keswick, Market Square, Cumbria Lake District, England 1962; photo via Zumbia.com
Happy Nesting
XO Tamara
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